Shacking Up At The Casino

The first place I encountered the "shack casino" phenomenon, we were driving across country to Montana...and stopped at a gas station/casino/arms/liquor store in South Dakota. It intrigued me that although this particular way-station did not even have any basic fast food or shopping joints, it DID however have a 1-Stop Vice Shack. Fill up your tank, gamble away your money, load up on some discount alcohol, and make sure you are amply armed...and have a nice trip! As I wandered into the gas station in search of a snack and drink of sorts, I was hit with a cloud of stale cigarette smoke...looked to my right...and saw 3 crusty old men bent over video slots with lights hanging out of the corner of their mouth and a drink in hand. All acknowledged me with a slight nod and grunt before turning their glazed eyes back to the screen. I carried on...but I began realizing this was really a popular sort of thing to have in some of these states. South Dakota really seems to have taken it a step further.

Casinos to ME had always been fairly elaborate. Vegas, Laughlin, Niagara Falls, Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods...all the glitz and glimmer...combined into hotels, concert halls, and 24-hour buffets. Not so here. Oh no. Now living in South Dakota, I realize that if you own a gas station...or a garden shed...you can own a casino! That lot on the corner for rent? Snatch it up! Toss a garden shed on it...painted in garish colors (florescent orange and green seem wildly popular)...install about 5 video slot machines...sell cigarettes and alcohol...and you have yourself a gambling center. Oh...and they are POPULAR. The cracked linoleum floors flex under the men and women hunched on their bar stool over the machines for hours...ashtrays overflowing and alcohol at the ready. The irony of the gigantic billboard installed across the street with a list of all local churches and the proclamation that "Jesus Loves You" is lost on the faithful Sunday crowd who stop at the casinos on their way to and from church. It's a matter of time before they just merge that into the mix. Guns, alcohol, gambling, and God. It's the fabric of what makes up this particular stretch of country...and in our town alone (a community of about 20,000), I've thus counted over 40 of these gas station rooms and little shacks.

I've got to admit, I've not yet gambled at one of these places...although I've more than been checking them out due to an equal mix of fascination and concern. I would be remiss NOT to head down to the local shack and throw away some of our hard earned money. You can't live in a place that offers this and NOT experience it.

Nothing like shacking up at the local vice hole...